Empty Soul
by namierin
Summary: She had a nice heart and an old soul, but not enough luck to survive alone. So many secrets she couldn't revealed, so much pain she had never talked about. She needed hope. She was hope, they were hope.
1. Chapter 1

« Jesus Christ… » Jamie felt to the ground a second time. Her legs were weak, she couldn't get far even if she wanted to. She had walked through the forest for a couple hours in vain. She had disappeared. Her forehead was profusely sweating due to the pain in her ankle. She had hurt herself while running after a little girl. She hasn't seen the root on the train and had jammed her feet right into it while the rest of her body was still moving forward. She could still hear the sound it made when her bone cracked.

Slowly, she leaned on a trunk, trying to rest a little bit. Normally, she would have climb to the top of a tree to be safer but for now, it wasn't even an option. She could barely walk and the sun was going down fast. What she needed was a shelter of some sort. On the map she had found in an abandoned gas station, she could see that there was some community near her, something that looked like a sect village, but she tried not to think about it.

Looking around her to be sure that there were no walkers near, she proceeded to slowly hop her way to the village before it was completely dark.

The village looked creepier then she thought. Old and rusty kids toys, burgundy traces on the walls that was either dirt or blood, she didn't want to know where they were from, and the whole post-apocalyptic look. She used to enjoy that, follow blogs that posted pictures of abandoned places. She thought those were fascinating. Now, they didn't have the same feeling.

She entered the first building she saw, her knife in her hand, ready to be used. She could hear walkers in a room at the back. They were groaning and scratching at something.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw two of them trying to get into the cupboard. Cries. There were cries coming from the cupboard. A little girl cries.

Christ…She was alive.

Forgetting about her injury, Jamie took a pan that was still on the counter and attacked both of them at the same time. One with the knife and the other with the pan's handle. Trying not to cry with the pain that was growing rapidly in her ankle, she pushed to bodies away from the door and opened it. The little girl started screaming, not able to see the face of her savior in the darkness. Slowly, Jamie crouched to be face to face with her and took a soft voice.

"I looked for you for hours… Are you alright sweety?" She said while smiling painfully.

"I… I… Are you with my mom…?"Cried the little girl.

"I am not, but we can look for her together, what do you think?"

The little girl nodded, still a bit frightened. She looked so fragile with her extremely pale skin and her baggy clothes. Out of nowhere, she jumped in Jamie's arms and hugged her the stronger she could. Feeling the warmth of another human being felt so reassuring for both of them. Loneliness in those days could kill you.

Jamie took the next hour to secure the house, looking for any more walkers and barricading the doors with furniture. The little girl that she know knew went by the name of Sophia helped her even though she didn't had the strength to push an old piano. They then eat some granola bars and a can of peaches. Not the best of diners, but Sophia seemed pleased with her sugary food.

"It tastes better than Daryl's squirrels."

Jamie laughed slowly "He's a member of your group?". Sophia nodded "Yes! He used to be scary and all, but he gave me this doll."

She showed her the doll that she was clutching ever since they met. It was dirty, old and let's faces it, quite ugly, but who cared? If it made her happy, that was the principal. Sophia talked a lot to her, told her about her group for her long time. She talked about Carl who was her best friend, Carol who was her mother, Rick, Lori, Jim, Daryl, Merel. There were so many names that Jamie couldn't remember all of them. Sophia seemed to admire every single person in that group, for her, they were the coolest and nicest people in the whole world.

"You told me about your mother, what about your father?"

The little girl fell silent; she couldn't look at Jamie anymore. She realised she had said something she shouldn't have. Her father was a sensible subject. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"He was a really bad man. I'm glad he isn't with us anymore." She lifted her head to look at Jamie. Her eyes were full of tears. "Come here sweety, I'm sorry bad things happened to you…".

Sophia snuggled into her arms without saying anything. Time passed and she felt asleep still against her chest. Jamie couldn't stop thinking about what that man had done to his daughter. She just hoped that it wasn't what she thought. Nobody deserved to go through that.

The next morning, Jamie woke up first and lifted Sophia's frail body to the old couch. She then removed some curtains in the kitchen and used them to secure her ankle. She had no idea how her injury could eventually heal, but for now, she had so little options that it would do.

The sun was beginning to set and some walkers had come in the area and were walking aimlessly around the houses. They could wait a bit, enough for them to wonder away. There were too much for her to handle in her condition, plus with Sophia, she didn't want to risk anything. She was determined to reunite the little girl with her mother, no one deserved to be away of people they loved for that long.

Softly, she walked towards the kitchen and began looking in the cupboard and other parts of the house she hadn't looked to last night. All the owners' belongings seemed to be still in their rooms upstairs. They were probably away when the outbreak occurred and never had the chance to get back to their home. That's when she entered the basement that shit hit the fan. The whole set up was so… She had no words to the describe it. She felt like vomiting, run away from that place. There, before her, was a bed in front of a camera. On it, was attached a walker, a little girl. Those obscene bastards had left that girl that they probably abused to die. Sick place…

Jamie hopped to the bed and sit next to her, sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry"she simply said before putting her knife through her head. She hadn't even the time to retrieve the knife that a scream coming from upstairs made her blood run cold.

"Sophia!" She tried to run upstairs, forgetting her injury. The pain made her slip and fall on the hard floor. She blacked-out instantly.


	2. Back home

When Jamie woke up, she was feeling like a whole building had fallen right on her head. She could barely move, the pain was too intense. Every time she was trying to open her eyes, she was feeling like she was about to vomit. Her ankle was hurting too and she could feel that her feet's angle was wrong. Tears were starting to fell down her cheeks. She was going to die alone after all. She wasn't able to survive and she was giving them all reason. They probably haven't even looked for her because they knew she wasn't strong enough for that world, a couple days and they wouldn't even have to care about that little girl that was causing problems.

Slowly, she tried to open her eyes to look around her, right in front of her face, were a pair of boots in which was attached to legs. Suddenly on her guard, she tried to move away from that person. "Holy shit". Without thinking, she pushed a shelf full of old stuff while trying to go upstairs. Everything was moving; she was feeling dizzy and almost felt backwards once again when she felt two arms around her preventing her from falling a second time. "Stop acting stupid. Ya hurt. " .

She didn't recognize his voice. She couldn't tell If it was a good thing or not. Maybe he was a fresh piece that was added after her departure. Their men were not saint, either was their women and the more far away they were from her, the best it was.

"Leave me the fuck alone."

"Not before you tell me why the fuck you have this with you."

He pushed her on the couch and bent over her, Sophia's doll in his hands. Sophia… Her scream came back in her memories. Where was she? She was about to try and look for her but he stopped her. His jaw was tense and his knuckles were turning white. Jamie challenged him with her gaze but he didn't seem intimidated for a bit. "Are you going to answer me or not?" He said, visibly trying not to hit her to force her to answer something.

"Who the fuck are you anyway? Why do you care about an ugly chiffon doll? See, I have other things to do." She said looking right into his eyes. "What have you done to that little girl? Where is she?".He was seriously beginning to upset her and if she had her knife still in her hands, she probably would had stabbed him to get him out of her way. "How do you know her?". "I'm with her group. Looking for her."

Jamie then went pale. She had now one of their men a couple centimetres in front of her face asking where was that little girl and she couldn't even tell. She had promised herself that she would bring her back to her family and now… She was left alone once again.

"I found her in here, in the cupboard… I wanted to bring her back to your people but… I dunno what happened, she screamed, I blacked out and… Here we are."

He looked at her for a couple seconds before going straight to the hallway were was a crossbow on the floor. "I can help you find her." He didn't even seem to hear her. He disappeared outside without a word, leaving her behind, alone. Instantly, the tears began falling down, rolling on her dirty cheeks. In that moment, all she wanted to do was walking directly to a walker and letting him eat her until there was nothing left of her, no trace, like she never had existed. Another fail had been add to her list, because of her, another innocent person would probably die. She rolled over, fell on the floor, and once again, hopped to the door. That man was still there, trying to kill a dozen of walkers. Without thinking, she pulled out her knife she had grab and took one by his hair to approach him. One, two, three, he looked at her. She couldn't tell what she saw in his eyes. It was hard to tell if he was either mad or thankful. When they were all dead, he grabbed her and put her on the back of a horse. Exhausted, she blacked out once again.

When she woke up, she felt…Comfy. She was laying on a comfy bed with a blanket over her. Someone had place something cold on her forehead, which was reducing her massive headache. She could feel a bandage around her angle leaving her no possibility of moving it. She was in a room, on a bed, where nothing seemed to have been abandoned. Everything was clean, tidy and… kinda cute. It reminded her of her own bedroom in some ways, well, the bedroom she used to have. When the outbreak happened, she was living in an apartment complex alone, her first place, without parents or roommates. Decorated like she loved, no one to tell her what to do, how to do things. At the time, she was more than happy that her parents couldn't have any authority on her doings, now, she would do anything to see their faces one last time.

The door then opened and she almost jumped under the bed. Rapidly she tried to find something to defend herself, the first thing her hand touched was an oil lamp. Two men entered the room, one old, nicely dressed. The other was dressed as a sheriff. When she saw him, a name came to her. Slowly, she lowered the lamp while still looking in his eyes. "You don't need to be afraid. Hershel patched you up and I'd like to talk to you about that doll" he showed her Sophia's doll. Jamie nodded, replaced the lamp and head back in the bed.

"I'm… Sorry for the lamp, you scared me…" The sheriff smirked and then sit at the foot of the bed, playing almost nervously with Sophia's doll. She spoke first. "I am so sorry about the little girl… I wanted to bring her home, I swear…". The man looked at her "What happened to her? If she still alive?"

Jamie couldn't look him in the eyes "I couldn't tell… The last time I heard of her, she screamed and I blacked out… I have no idea why she screamed or where she is now". He nodded then rose from the bed and walked to the door. Before going out in the hall, he turned and look at her. "How many walkers have you killed?". She thought his question was kind of strange but answered anyway "About fifty, maybe more or less." "How many people have you killed?" His eyes were burning on her "None" "Why?" She sighed "I have morals." He nodded then left the room, leaving her alone with Hershel. He looked at her ankle and then her head which she add knocked pretty hard. "You need to rest. My daughter Maggie will bring you something to eat." She nodded and murmured a frail "Thank you". So, she had met Rick according of what Sophia had tell her. The nice cop, _officer friendly_.

Half an hour later, someone knocked at the door. She was a little bit younger than her, had short hair and had a tray with food on it in her hands. Sliced cucumbers, bread, juice and an apple. When she saw all of those, Jamie most have looked like a little girl. "Where… Where did you get all that food?" Maggie smiled and put the tray on her thighs. "This is a farm, we still grow our own vegetables and our fields are still intact. I presume you didn't have the chance to it that well those days?" She was right. Under her baggy shirt, her body must me so skinny. She never try and looked at herself since the outbreak. Seeing fresh food was mouth-watering. "Thank you so much…" Maggie nodded than sit in a chair in the corner of the room, checking her eating with appetite. Her father had asked to look after her. After all, she had a concussion.

They talked for a little while about things without any importance and Jamie was more than okay with that. It was out of question that she talked about what she had done after the outbreak. They looked like nice people and didn't want them to soak in her problems. She had a lot, more then she thought. They talked for at least an hour before Jamie felt asleep, the tray still on her thighs.

Maggie took it and went back to the kitchen where Lori and Carol were already preparing dinner for the rest of the group. They both turned to look at her.

"How's she?" said Carol.

"She seems alright, but she needs to rest. Her ankle must had caused her enough pain to drain all her energy".

"Poor baby…" Carol looked at her wet hands, tears menacing to fall. "I need to thank her when she woke up. Even though my baby isn't here she took care of her, she tried to bring her back to me…"

"I think you should maybe say the same thing to Rick… He's feeling so guilty, it's killing him" said Lori.

Carol nodded unable to talk.

When Jamie woke up for the second time, she was alone in her room; she tried to get up without moving her ankle. She hoped to the door and opened it. Right in front of her were Maggie and a man kissing… Really intense. They didn't even head the door, so she tried to pass them silently, which completely failed.

"Oh you're awake!"

"Ja… Oh my god Jamie is that you?"

When she turn around and realised who was the man, she began to cry like a baby. He ran to her and hugged her, before Maggie's suspicious eyes. She then realised who she was to him, he had talked about her. She almost cried too.

"Oh my god you're alive… I can't believe it… "Said Glenn, trying to retain his tears.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it in time…"

"No don't say that…" he copped her face in his hands "Damn I thought you were still in Korea…"

"When it happened I was still in the airport…"

He couldn't answer anything, he hugged her so hard that she could barely breathe but she didn't care. She never had the hope to see him again. Glenn was her brother. He emigrated from South Korea to the USA three years ago and she missed him loads. It was supposed to be a surprise; he didn't know she was coming to see him. Yet again her plan failed. It was like hell had open up right in front of them.

"What's going on?" said someone behind them.

Slowly, Glenn let go of her and with a shaking voice answered "Rick… She's my sister… Daryl thank you. Thank you so much." There was three men in the hallway. Two of them were dressed like police officers and the other in dirty clothes. He ran to the third one and hugged him. Daryl looked tense the moment his arms had touch his skin. He patted Glenn's back awkwardly then pushed him away a little rough. "I thought she was I threat" Glenn smiled " No matter why, you bring her back to her family, that's all I care about."

"Whatever." Daryl turned around and walked back downstairs. Jamie felt really awkward about that situation. She was conscious that she looked really suspicious. Everyone was looking at her like she was some kind of criminal. She would never be able to hurt someone, Gleen knew it. But who would believe a brother defending his sister? Everybody would think that he was delusional. She had to work her way to show them that they could trust her. Maybe she was naïve but she knew that those people were good ones. She had come across some really bad individuals through her journey; they had that vibe, that look in their eyes that said that something bad was coming. Plus she trusted her brother, he wouldn't follow people he thought had no morals. Glenn had always been a sweetheart. And he was smart, really smart. More than he may look like.

That night, Glenn stayed in her room talking about anything. They had so many things to catch up on. They hadn't talk in weeks, ever since it all started. "So… Tell me about Maggie." Her brother blushed immediately. "Hum… She's… A very interesting woman. She… Knows very well what she wants" Jamie couldn't stop herself and started to laugh. "I see, she jumped on you the first night?" Glenn blushed again " Well… It was in the afternoon, does that count?". He was so shy about it. Glenn had always been. She couldn't say that she was that different but while fighting rotting corpses she didn't really cared about what people would think of her. Who cared about looks now?

The door opened on Hershel, who she had learned was the owner of the farm. He smiled at them than dropped a first aid kit on the nightstand. " I'm sorry to interrupt but miss Lee needs some rest." Glenn smiled softly and kissed her forehead before leaving. Hershel changed her bandages than turned off the light for the night. She was now alone in the dark. She began shaking and tried to be as silent as possible. The dark scared her more than ever.


End file.
